Robert Orr's Obituary
Robert "Bob" Hunter Orr, 01/30/1915 to 11/30/2005
Obituary
Robert "Bob" Hunter Orr, aged 90, of Lewes passed away peacefully November 30, 2005.
Son of the late Dr. William P. Orr II and Claudia Beck Orr, Bob grew up in Lewes, later writing a memoir of his youth entitled "A Small-Town Boyhood in the First State." A member of St. Andrew's School's first graduating class, Bob continued to support their scholarship program. Bob graduated from Princeton University four years later and took his first job with the DuPont Co. in Parlyn, NJ. During this period, he also attended law school in Brooklyn, graduating with a degree from Rutgers University.
He moved to Wilmington where he married Jinny Layton. Bob worked in labor relations of the Atomic Energy Division of DuPont, finally retiring after 38 years. He served on the Boards of the Tatnall School, the Yorklyn School and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He was a member of the Wilmington Club and the Society of Colonial Wars.
Retiring to Lewes, Bob and Jinny bought and restored the Hunter House and Fisher's Paradise. They were founding members of the Lewes Historical Society. Bob became a warden of St. Peter's Church and served on the vestry.
Bob was active with the fund raising campaign for the expansion of the Lewes Library. He was a booster and fund raiser for the University of Delaware's Maritime College and also helped build the new YMCA Center in Rehoboth Beach.
While serving on the Lewes Town Council, Bob was instrumental in preserving The Great Marsh, which buffers Cape Henlopen State Park. He also served on the Lewes Board of Adjustment.
Bob was an avid and gifted gardener and garden designer who especially loved his animals,domestic and wild, as well.
Bob was a person who brought light and joy to all who knew him. He is survived and mourned by daughters Claudia of Bozman, MD, Helene of Denver, CO and Penelope of Charden, OH; grandsons Jeffrey, Dean and Sebastian Orr, two great-granddaughters, and a host of friends and caregivers: Tricia, Peg, Jill, Melvina, Joanne, Millie, Donna, Sarah, and Marketta; and feline friends Missy and Charley.
Donations may be made to the Scholarship Fund at St. Andrews School, Alumni House, 350 Noxontown Road, Middletown, DE 19709, the Delaware Nature Conservancy, Delaware Chapter Office, 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 1107, Wilmington, DE 19801 or the Historic Lewes Cat Society, P.O. Box 353, Lewes, DE l9958
Services will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, 11 AM at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 2nd Street, Lewes with interment following in the adjacent churchyard. Arrangements are being handled by Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematoritum, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes, DE.
Online condolences my be sent to: [email protected]
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